JEDDAH, 22 November 2007 — Happily and sadly.... That’s how Saudi scholarships applicants learned the final results of the third round of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Scholarships Program.

Starting early yesterday morning, results were posted online in the Ministry of Higher Education’s official website www.mohe.gov.sa.

Text messages were sent from the ministry to successful candidates congratulating them and giving them instructions on procedures to follow.

Areej Iraqi, who did not find her name among accepted students, said that the GPAs of those who got accepted were very high.

“There was no variety in the levels accepted, which did not give the opportunity to others,” she said. “In addition, the short-list was very small considering the number of applicants.”

Indeed, out of around 20,000 applicants from across the Kingdom only 6,500 were accepted. GPA scores were the criteria and the focus was on science specialties.

Iraqi said it is unfair to evaluate the applicants depending only on their GPA alone. “I know people who applied for scholarships just to fulfill their egos without having any real intention to study. They are taking away seats from more serious candidates,” she said.

Badria Mudeer, who unsuccessfully applied for a scholarship, suggested that there should be personal interviews for the applicants to evaluate them instead of totally depending on the GPA.

The minimum GPA varied from one degree to another and also from boys to girls. The minimum GPA to qualify for a degree is higher for girls than for boys. For example, the minimum GPA to apply for a master’s degree scholarship for medical school is 3.15/5; for girls it’s 3.16/5. The difference is larger for all other master’s degree programs: 3.15/5 for boys and 4.08/5 for girls.

“I was frustrated; because I have a GPA below four I was not accepted,” said graduate Lama Amir. “But male applicants for the master’s degree of the same specialties was as low as 3.15. Why is it so high for girls and not for boys? My GPA is even higher than (3.15). What justifies this discrimination?”